Jesada Buaban
As a former Theravada monk from the Thai tradition who previously focused my doctoral’s research on the invention of Theravada Buddhism in Indonesia (Buaban, 2020), the diversity of Buddhism in Indonesia attracted me to pay more attention to other Buddhist groups. Of course, I encountered many internal conflicts (or pluralism, depending on how we define it). Buddhayana, a new movement that encourages Buddhists from the Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana traditions to live and learn together in the same temple, is particularly worthy of study. Imagine if we could see a church where Catholic and Protestant priests lived and worked together. Such an arrangement may be difficult in many other religions, but for Indonesian Buddhists, Buddhayana is a successful product of the Indonesian context.
In this short essay, I will reflect on what I found during three years of ethnographic fieldwork in Central Java, which later became my Ph.D. dissertation, Challenging Buddhist Orthodoxy: In Search of Authentic Indonesian Buddhism under the Social and Political Context of the Buddhayana Movement. For many people, Buddhism is a minority religion in Indonesia, so, Buddhists are likely to be united. However, the reality is quite the opposite. They are highly diverse, organized into separate institutions, and often criticize one another. This diversity has been shaped by Buddhist revival movements, transnational networks, and different monastic lineages. Most importantly, they are all influenced by the trend of seeking “authentic Buddhism,” although what counts as authenticity ultimately depends on how it is defined.
Scholarly Interpretations vs Lived Religious Experience
Drawing on previous scholarly works, conflicts and organizational splits among Indonesian Buddhists have generally been explained in terms of theological disagreements, especially over the concepts of God or nirvana in relation to the state ideology of Pancasila, Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa (Chia, 2018; Kimura, 2003; Syukur, 2022). However, what I found in the field is that Buddhists from different organizations seem not to pay much attention to doctrinal debates. Rather, they focus on everyday identities and practices, such as chanting in Pali or Mandarin, eating meat or following a vegetarian diet, and whether monks wear sarongs or long pants. Therefore, the politics of authenticity is found primarily in everyday lived practices, whereas theological debates appear to be more prominent in scholarly analyses than in the religious identities of ordinary Buddhists.
The definition of being an “authentic Buddhist” has significantly shaped Buddhist identities in the Indonesian context. According to the state’s definition, Buddhists must believe in a supreme God (Adi-Buddha), recognize a prophet (Siddhartha Gautama), and possess holy scriptures (the Tipitaka and Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan). Claims of authenticity based on these criteria were later used to expel Buddhayana from the national Buddhist federation (WALUBI) in 1995, following accusations that it also revered other spiritual figures, such as Sai Baba. In fact, competing claims to represent “true Buddhism” had already emerged earlier. In 1976, a group of Theravada monks, followed by a group of Mahayana monks in 1978, separated themselves from Jinarakkhita and the Buddhayana movement, choosing instead to follow their own lineages with support from Thai and Taiwanese Buddhist networks. Thus, authentic Buddhism came to mean not only meditation and the demystification of religious narratives, but also “exclusive loyalty to a single Buddhist tradition.”
However, following the fall of Suharto in 1998, Buddhist groups gained greater religious freedom and began competing to occupy public space, a process I describe as a “war of authenticity.” This is, of course, a peaceful competition in which different groups construct their identities to access to Borobudur, Indonesia’s most important historical Buddhist site. Thai missionary monks have long dominated the national Waisak celebration and, more recently, have introduced the Thudong peace walk to promote walking meditation. Limited opportunities to organize large-scale events at Borobudur also encouraged the Sangha Theravada Indonesia (STI) to launch the national Tipitaka Chanting Program on Asalha Puja Day in 2015, emphasizing scriptural preservation and learning. In 2023, the Buddhayana movement successfully organized a national Magha Puja celebration, highlighting Buddhist pluralism as its defining identity. Over the past two decades, authenticity has been expressed in diverse ways—through meditation, scriptural preservation, or religious pluralism—as different Buddhist groups seek recognition and visibility in Indonesia’s public sphere.
Directions for Future Research on Indonesian Buddhism
Having lived with Buddhists in Central Java for three years, I encountered many issues that remain beyond the scope of my dissertation, such as the lives of Buddhists who move between different traditions/organizations, the relationships between wealthy and poor Buddhists, and many other aspects of everyday religious life.
Although Buddhists in Indonesia belong to diverse traditions and organizations, some families, particularly in rural areas, live between Buddhist traditions. In these families, one member may belong to Theravada, another to Buddhayana, while others maintain multiple affiliations or remain religiously neutral. One example is my colleague in Boyolali, who is affiliated with the Buddhayana movement, whereas her parents belong to Theravada. Because their home is located far from the nearest temple, a Theravada teacher regularly visited their village and finally established a temple nearby her father’s home. Since then, her father has become the Ketua Vihara (temple leader) of the Theravada, while she and her family members have remained active in Buddhayana. Interestingly, the family receives support from both organizations. For example, during charitable outreach (Bakti Sosial), they receive assistance from both Buddhayana and Theravada groups. This suggests that some Buddhists maintain flexible rather than fixed sectarian identities, a phenomenon that deserves further ethnographic investigation.
The economic situations of Buddhists make their relationships worthy of closer attention. Scholars may assume that Buddhists from major cities such as Jakarta, Bandung, and Surabaya can easily connect with Buddhists in rural areas like Temanggung, Boyolali, and Jepara simply because they share the same religious identity and chant in the same Pali or Mandarin languages. In reality, economic status often differentiates them into givers and receivers, locals and visitors, particularly when wealthy Buddhists donate money to build or renovate temples or provide material support. In some cases, business people from large cities invest money in goat-farming projects, while villagers provide land, care for the goats, and feed them. When the goats are sold, the initial investment is returned to the businesspeople, and the remaining profit is divided between the investors and the villagers. Although this relationship is tied together by a shared Buddhist identity, it also reinforces class differences. This example suggests that Buddhist reciprocity deserves further ethnographic research.
References
Buaban, J. (2025). War of Authenticity: Religious Competition among Indonesian Buddhists. Asian Journal of Arts and Culture, 25(3), e285384. https://doi.org/10.48048/ajac.2025.285384
Buaban, J. (2020). Invented Identity of Thai Monks in Indonesia. Manusya Journal of Humanities, 23(2): 170- 187. https://bit.ly/3Ta96cp
Chia, J. M. T. (2018). Neither Mahayana nor Theravada: Ashin Jinarakkhita and the Indonesian Buddhayana Movement. History of Religions, 58(1), 24-63. https://shorturl.at/nvJDC
Kimura, B. (2003). Present situation of Indonesian Buddhism: In memory of Bhikkhu Ashin Jinarakkhita Mahasthavira. Nagoya Studies in Indian Culture and Buddhism: Saṃbhaṣa, 23(1), 53-72. https://shorturl.at/V9iBM
Syukur, A. (2022). Theological debate among Buddhist sects in Indonesia. HTS Theological Studies, 78(4), 1-8. https://shorturl.at/mvMHx